"We can't wait until 2040 to transition away from gas"
Dutch Strawberry Grower Marcel Dings of Brookberries Urges Early Action on Gas Phaseout
Dutch greenhouse horticulture has the ambition to become climate neutral by 2040. Marcel himself has already taken many measures. He shared his experience and vision of the future with us.
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Ensuring Fire Safety with Sandwich Panels
Make the right choices before construction
Quality and continuity go hand in hand. Everyone knows greenhouse businesses that have experienced a fire or other business damage. You then see that the consequences can be severe. Short circuits, lighting problems, and disruptions from the lighting installation are the main causes of fires in the greenhouse sector, with flammable screen cloths acting as potential spreaders. Read our tips on how to deal with risks.
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Washed Away Soil And Uneven Pipes – A Problem?
Getting Ready for Heavy Rain and Storms
Expect lots of rain and rough weather during autumn. We need to be ready for it. Sometimes, there are really heavy rain showers, and our drainage system can't handle all the water. This can lead to water spilling outside your greenhouse. What does this mean? Is your greenhouse truly waterproof? We're here to give you tips to help your greenhouse stay dry.
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"Greenhouse roofs wear down through weather and wind"
The importance of greenhouse roof maintenance
Risk specialist Olaf van Marrewijk: "Greenhouses need regular maintenance. Loose or weak connections and wear on components can greatly reduce the storm resistance of a greenhouse. The majority of greenhouses in Canada have tempered glass without fins, and this is increasingly the case in the Netherlands as well. Regular inspections of your greenhouse can help identify potential issues, allowing you to address them before they become larger problems. We are happy to share practical examples with you, so you know what to look for during your inspection rounds."
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Maintenance is important for a safe greenhouse
Hagelunie can provide guidance on performing maintenance
Greenhouses are standing for longer periods and being used more intensively. Storms, rain, and frost can have an impact on the quality of your greenhouse or commercial building. Therefore, it is important to regularly inspect your greenhouse or building. Pay attention to washed-away soil around your greenhouse, pipe subsidence, broken panes, and leaks.
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Measures to prevent harmful greenhouse gases
In the winter, air vents in greenhouses are seldomly used. Incorrect adjustment or use of equipment can lead to an accumulation of harmful greenhouse gases. What are the possible negative effects of toxic gases in your greenhouse? In this article, we will explain how you can prevent greenhouse gases causing growth retardation or even damage or loss of crop due to toxic greenhouse gasses.
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Combined heat and power (CHP) system consulting & maintenance
If your CHP or medium-voltage system fails, your entire business will come to a standstill. Proper maintenance reduces the chance of downtime.
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Switching from heated to unheated cultivation?
Consider the strength of your greenhouse
A greenhouse is built for the first crop grown in it. Most greenhouses are designed for heated cultivation and calculated for limited snow loads. Greenhouses designed for heated cultivation use lighter gutters and roof bars which cannot support a heavy snow load.
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Ventilation windows can freeze shut at temperatures around the freezing point
Vents freeze partly due to radiation and the insulating effect of the screens, which is the case during night frost.
Vents freeze partly due to radiation and the insulating effect of the screens, which is the case during night frost. With multiple screens and greenhouses being increasingly closed off, it is often colder above the top screen. The rubber seal of the vents freezes to the aluminium greenhouse frame. “Every year, business owners open vents without realising they are frozen shut,” Theo Herngreen, a greenhouse technical specialist, explains. “The temperature difference between the greenhouse air and the windows is considerable, and temperature sensors or separate measuring boxes are not always installed above the screen. Opening the vents while frozen damages the rubber seals, or worse: the vent mechanism and window actuators can be deformed or broken.”
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Hit by a snow drift
De Munck nursery managed to rebuild its business after a snowstorm wreaked havoc
Hydrangea growers Ferry van der Meer and Peter de Munck of Kwekerij De Munck in De Lier, the Netherlands, were hit by heavy snowfall in February 2021. Part of the greenhouse collapsed completely. The entrepreneurs managed to recover by acting quickly and wisely and by cooperating with us as insurers, among others.
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How to keep your greenhouse frost free
Frost can damage pipes and tubes
What can you do to reduce the risk of damage during winter, unnecessary crop downtime, high costs and damage caused by frost?
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Tips to prevent snow damage in greenhouse horticulture
Reduce the risk of broken windows and damage to your greenhouse structure. Follow our tips in this article.
Prevent snow damage: Greenhouses can carry a limited amount of snow. The weight of a snowpack can be considerable, especially if it persists or if it snows in combination with rain. Excessive weight can break windows or damage the greenhouse structure. A greenhouse can even collapse completely under the weight of snow.
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An empty greenhouse requires extra attention during the winter
Winter weather increases the likelihood of damage to your greenhouse. If you leave your greenhouse empty—either temporarily or for an extended period—to save energy, for example, special attention is required to keep your greenhouse undamaged and ready for use. How do you prevent damage and ensure that you can resume production quickly? We are happy to help.
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Check your heat water storage tank’s condition regularly to ensure operational safety
What is the condition of your hot water storage tank and is it still free of any leakage?
Just outside your premises is often the tank for storage of millions of liters boiling water. Having a functioning tank is key to keeping your business at peak efficiency.
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Water silos as a creeping risk
Stand at the helm as a sector
When you invest in new or replace existing water silos, it is important to understand the added security available and have a regular inspection schedule of these silos during their lifetime. Silos used for the storage of rainwater and feed water are a must in the horticulture industry. Hundreds of cubic meters of water can be stored efficiently, but there is a danger in this.
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5 Useful Tips to Ensure Virus-Free Water
How you can keep a drain water disinfector functioning optimally
Did you know there are risks associated with the reuse of drain water? Viruses and fungi which are present in the drain water can be spread throughout the greenhouse when recirculated. The attention for prevention and control of viruses such as ToBRFV has increased in the recent years. Good prevention also includes disinfection of drain water and maintenance of the drain water disinfector.
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Saving the water when repairing the dump tank
On a fresh sunny morning driving along the heat storage tank it shows a small feather of vapour Leakage! Repairing the tank seems like a simple task, but where to go to with 5,000 m3 of water and how do I get the tank refilled?
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Maintenance central heating feed water
In greenhouse horticulture, climate systems have grown into a complex whole of high-tech subsystems with heat pumps, CHPs, heat exchangers and cold and heat storage tanks. The quality of the feed water is one of the most important factors for the service life of these systems. We advise you to look into this together with your installer.
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Certain of light!
Transformers are an important link in the continuity of your lighting installation. Make sure you have a backup.
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The risks of new energy supplies can be limited effectively
In more and more countries, the demand for new technologies to limit fossil fuel dependence is increasing. New techniques lead to new risks. How can you safely embed this in your organisation?
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Pay attention to LED
The use of LED lighting in horticulture is increasing. The higher efficiency in light output, longer lifespan and possibilities to adjust the lighting to a specific crop are major advantages. The range in LED fixtures is large, and so are the differences in quality. We give you tips on what to look out for when buying and installing LED fixtures.
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Rocket cress can be used as an indicator crop
Find out if your greenhouse air has toxic substances
Greenhouses are supposed to create ideal circumstances for production of vegetables and flowers. But sometimes growers are surprised that crops do not really grow that well or even show damage. Toxic air can be one of the causes.
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